FOOD:It's time to dust off the barbecue and get grilling - and don't forget to eat your greens
THERE'S SOMETHING refreshingly Stone Age about barbecuing: flames, smoke, burnt meat, sizzling fat, men drinking beer - and lots of protein. It's a testosterone fest.
Too much of anything is bad for you, and we tend to forget that when it tastes really good. So, eating barbecued meat five days a week is not a good idea. But the occasional barbecue is fine, and the fact that we've been cooking meat over a naked flame since fire was discovered proves that we won't keel over because of a few burnt sausages.
This is a great marinade that is perfect with these spare ribs, but also works well with chicken. Sometimes I get a bit prissy and cook meat (especially things with bones in it, such as chicken drumsticks and pork ribs) in the oven first and then lash it on the barbie for a final blast of flame to give them flavour and that charred look and taste.
Barbecues have this annoying habit of cooking the hell out of food from the outside, but leaving the inside a little too undercooked, which is fine for steaks, but scary for chicken and pork. So, just because it looks burnt on the outside doesn't mean it's cooked inside.
Giving meat a blast in the oven beforehand eliminates the guesswork. It also leaves it a lot more tender and juicy as all that intense heat from the flames can make meat tough and leathery if exposed to it for too long.
This bean salad looks gorgeous and tastes fab. Pomegranates seem to be one of those celebrity foods du jour, so if you eat this salad, get your best frock out and practise your acceptance speech, as you're bound to win an Oscar.
Pomegranate and green bean salad
450g green beans
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 pomegranate
Small bunch flat-leaf parsley
Small bunch chopped mint
Dressing:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
50ml white wine vinegar
150ml olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and pepper
Blanch the beans, scoop out the pomegranate seeds, make the dressing by shaking the ingredients around in a closed jar, and toss the whole lot together.
Crunchy cucumber salad
1/2 loaf sourdough bread, or a small baguette cut into cubes
50ml olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Few splashes Tabasco sauce
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 large cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped into chunks
1 red onion, peeled and finely diced
100g pitted black olives
Small bunch cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons toasted nuts, roughly chopped (hazelnuts work well)
Small bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Bake the chunks of bread in an oven at 150 Celsius/gas mark two, until they are golden brown. Allow them to cool fully. Mix the olive oil, vinegar, Tabasco and garlic together. Season well. Mix the remaining ingredients together, add the dressing, and serve.
Ribs (enough for six)
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons rosemary, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
50 ml olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
6 pork ribs, separated
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and marinate the pork for at least an hour, or overnight. Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius/gas four and cook the ribs for about 40 minutes. Cover the ribs with tin foil if they're getting too charred. The honey/maple syrup and sugar in the ketchup will cause them to caramelise. You can give the ribs a final go on a hot barbecue for that charred appeal. If not, turn the oven up to 200 Celsius/gas six and remove the foil for the final 10 minutes of cooking to achieve a cheat's barbecue effect.
